Real Madrid's Gareth Bale Reportedly Fined €337,000 over Unpaid Taxes

Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale has reportedly become the latest footballer to run into trouble with the Spanish tax authorities after being fined €337,000 for not properly declaring earnings from his image rights.

According to Mundo (h/t AS) the issue dates back to 2013. Tax authorities want €200,000 in unpaid taxes, €100,000 in fines and €37,000 in interest.

The fine is relatively minor compared to the punishments other footballers have faced. Per the report, Bale's former Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo accepted a €19 million fine and a two-year suspended jail sentence in his tax fraud case.

Bale is but the latest in a long line of top players in La Liga to fall foul of tax regulations. Lionel Messi, Marcelo, Javier Mascherano, Alexis Sanchez, Luka Modric and many more have made headlines for similar issues in the last few years.

The Spanish tax authorities have clamped down on fraud since the nation ran into a major financial crisis, per Reuters (for ESPN FC). New tax reforms have just been announced, to the despair of league president Javier Tebas, who signed a letter that argued the reforms may lead to the departure of the league's elite players:

"All these measures imply a negative impact on the accounts of clubs and affect more than 750 players and coaches.

"Just the tax increases will lead to an impact of €80 million on the accounts of clubs, which could mean the departure of 20 elite players from our league.

"As a result [of the proposed reforms], La Liga is designing a strategy to mitigate as much as possible the negative impact of these proposals."

Bale moved to the Spanish capital in 2013 in what was then the most expensive transfer in football history. The 29-year-old is the team's second-leading scorer this season and is expected to assume a leadership role now that Ronaldo has moved to Juventus.